BOYS BASKETBALL: Spring-Ford stops PJP in backyard battle

By
Jeff Stover, The Mercury

Saturday, January 19, 2013

UPPER PROVIDENCE — It could have been the preview of a possible first-round matchup in the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s Final Four playoffs.

That scenario is still a couple weeks in the making. When they met Friday evening, Spring-Ford and Pope John Paul II were more focused on a more important matter at hand; namely, getting back on the winning track and solidifying or improving their positions at the top of the PAC’s two divisions.

That played a big part in the hard-fought, high-velocity game they staged before a packed house at PJP. And it was the Rams who cashed in bigger, pulling out a 49-44 victory.

“It was a great high-school game. The atmosphere was incredible,” Spring-Ford head coach Mike Young said. “Both teams had two losses in the league. It was back-and-forth, with both teams competing as hard as they could.”

In a game where neither team led by more than five points, the Rams (6-3 league, 10-5 overall) drew on their poise to keep the Golden Panthers at bay through the tenuous final minute. They broke a 42-42 deadlock when Charlton Exley deposited a layup with 1:02 left, got the ball back 20 seconds later when PJP was whistled for a walk and completed a traditional 3-point play by Drew Kakareka three seconds later for a 47-42 lead.

Brent Mahoney answered with a flying layup for the home team, which got the ball back with 28 seconds left when Ryan Cass missed twice at the foul line. But James Bleming’s last-gasp shot from 3-point range fell short of the bucket and bounced out of bounds; Zameer McDowell got the subsequent in-bounds pass, drew a foul, and completed both free throws to ice the game.

“Our last couple games, the last quarter we haven’t played well,” Young said. “We did better tonight.”

Winning the game enabled the Rams to remain tied with Perkiomen Valley for second place in the PAC-10’s Liberty Division, the latter by virtue of a 63-48 victory over Upper Perkiomen. The loss didn’t affect PJP’s standing atop the Frontier ranks, but it has the Panthers (6-3, 10-6) in a three-game slide that ranks as their longest of the season.

“That puts us in the position of having to go and win a basketball game,” head coach Jack Flanagan said. “We haven’t done that three times now.”

The game showcased another big individual effort by Zameer McDowell, who played both for the moment and for his scholastic career.

The Ram senior produced a timely double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds, leading his team’s charges from three-point deficits at the half and the end of the third quarter. He also halved the distance to becoming the program’s latest 1,000-point scorer, needing another 17 to become the seventh one in its history.

“Whenever we play PJP, its always a big game,” McDowell. “It’s a good rivalry, so we expected a playoff-like atmosphere tonight. Thank goodness my team embraced it.”

After falling in a 7-2 hole at the start, the Panthers took charge in the first half with help from long-distance shots. Bleming (11 points) buried a 3 two seconds before the end of the opening stanza, and Michael Cianciulli nailed another from the right corner of the PJP gym as the buzzer sounded to end the half up 21-18.

“We made those shots,” Flanagan noted, “but you can’t count on that. We have to make good plays all game.”

The hosts were able to maintain their three-point lead through a third quarter, even while the Rams pulled even at 26-26 less than three minutes into the frame. Mahoney (11 points) fueled a five-point run with a 3-for-4 at the line followed by a layup with 2:55 left.

In the fourth, Spring-Ford pulled even again twice in the first 3-1/2 minutes, only to see PJP go back in front with help from Alex Plate and Mahoney making pairs of free throws in a 20-second span. The Rams regained a 42-41 lead when Kakareka (nine points) made both ends of a one-and-one at the 2:42 mark; PJP pulled even 36 seconds later, but it proved to be the last time.

“I would say the whole team,” McDowell said about the source of Spring-Ford’s poised posture at the end. “They said don’t worry about the score, just keep our composure and just keep shooting the ball.

“The poise was great to see,” Young added. “We executed the last quarter, we only had eight turnovers, and our defense was absolutely great. We were talking well, which is important here with how noisy the gym gets.”

NOTESNick Stanek also hit double figures for the Rams, finishing with 10 points. ... Jamel Stinson was held to three points — well below the team-leading 15.7 ppg he’s amassed for PJP — but he keyed the Panthers’ play off the glass by clearing 15 rebounds. ... Spring-Ford’s game with Downingtown East will be the nightcap pairing of the Athletes for Better Education Classic the school is hosting today. That 7:30 p.m. tilt will be preceded by girls’ games pairing Avon Grove and Easton (1:30 p.m.), Berks Catholic and Trinity (3 p.m.), Boyertown and Parkland (4:30 p.m.), and Spring-Ford vs. Wilson-West Lawn (6 p.m.).